Enlightening Minds

With an eye on strategy, community partnerships and continuous improvement, Sherif Elfayoumy is getting settled as the new dean of the College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science at Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). He was drawn to the university by its reputation. 

“For anyone who’s studying engineering, computing or technology, the Purdue brand is really one that stands very tall compared to all the other engineering, technology and computer science schools,” he explains.

Determined to build on that brand, Elfayoumy has spent his first four months on the job getting to know people, better understanding how he can serve students and designing a plan that benefits students, faculty, staff and the entire northeast Indiana community. Prior to coming to PFW, the Cairo native studied in Kentucky, and taught and led programs in Florida. 

“I’m a firm believer that the only way you can improve is by making changes, so the first thing I did when I came here was buy copies of the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. I told chairs and direct reports, ‘This is our Bible going forward. We will improve by making changes and will not be afraid to fail as long as we can detect that quickly and pivot,’” he says emphatically. 

Student success, Elfayoumy says, is paramount and is one of three primary pillars he’s focusing on. The others are competitiveness and diversity, and inclusion and empowerment. One of the keys is offering the best curriculum possible taught by the best faculty possible, surrounded by the best environment. He’s committed to strengthening relationships with the business community so that everyone benefits.

“We’re very excited about the future of northeast Indiana,” Elfayoumy stresses. “I really want us to play a part in advancing and helping the local economy, and attracting more people to come live and study in Fort Wayne. We’re not afraid of trying new things and making sure that our programs are innovative, transformative and experiential. That means providing students with seamless classrooms. They come to regular class in the morning to learn concepts, and then have experiential training opportunities — interning with local businesses and applying those concepts. We want them to be learning all day long.”

Both professionally and personally, Elfayoumy has been impressed with how welcoming people have been. It’s a feeling he hopes to capitalize on as he works to make the region even better.

“One of the things that’s amazing about Fort Wayne and PFW is the sense of community. If you have lived in other places, it will come across very strong. If you’ve lived here for longer periods of time, you might not see it, but it’s huge. Everyone here wants you to succeed, and we want this to be an open invitation to students from Indiana, other states and other countries to come join our growing Fort Wayne community,” he concludes. 

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